Only 200 pupils will get top GCSE grades

AS FEW as 200 pupils will achieve a clean sweep of GCSE top grades under the new grading system, one of the country’s leading exam boards has found.

This represents a 90 per cent drop in the number of students receiving top grades compared with the previous system, under which 2,000 were awarded straight A*s.

The new system, which grades students 1-9, allows for greater distinction between the brightest candidates, as an A* is split between grades 8 and 9.

Students will receive numerical grades this summer in a range of subjects, including science, history, geography and languages.

This is the first year that students are taking the revamped exams in several subjects. The new courses were part of a package of reforms by Michael Gove when he was education

secretary, designed to toughen up syllabuses, make courses more linear, and cut down on the number of students getting A*s.

But very few students are likely to gain the highest result, grade 9, across all of their courses, a report has found.

The research, published by Cambridge Assessment, one of the country’s biggest exam boards, predicts that, among those taking at least eight GCSES, between 200 and 900 will walk away with grade 9s in all subjects.

The study used GCSE data from 2016 and the most conservative estimate suggests that around 200 candidates will score 9s across the board.

The other predictions, which take a more speculative approach by taking into account the varying abilities of those who scored A* grades, conclude that up to 900 could land straight 9s.

In 2016, around 2,000 students gained A* in at least eight GCSES.

School leaders have warned that grades risk becoming a “lottery”, with thousands of “guinea pig” students set to be disappointed with their results.

Under major reforms, GCSES have been toughened up, with less coursework and all exams taken at the end of the two-year course, rather than throughout. New 9-1 grades have replaced the A*-G system, with the first results, in English and maths, awarded last summer, with most other subjects following this summer.